Roger Fingas
Philips has introduced several new products to its Apple HomeKit-capable Hue lighting system, most notably the Motion Sensor, which can be used to trigger different actions based not just on movement but the time of day.
The Sensor is both wireless and battery powered, and can be attached to a variety of surfaces such as walls, ceilings, and furniture. Instead of simply shutting particular bulbs on or off, the unit can optionally trigger different scenes, such as dimmer lighting at night. An ambient light detector can be configured to turn lighting on or off at sunrise or sunset.
The product requires a Hue Bridge to work, but up to 12 Sensors can be connected to a single Bridge. The Motion Sensor should ship in October for $39.95.
Also due that month are new White and Color Ambiance A19 bulbs, which should feature richer and brighter colors, especially in blue and green shades. Philips is also adding two new White Ambiance bulbs, in less conventional GU-10 and BR-30 formats.
The company hasn't said whether the Sensor itself will be HomeKit-enabled, which could in theory be used to trigger complex scenes even with devices that aren't Hue bulbs.
Wesley Hilliard
Malcolm Owen
William Gallagher
Christine McKee
Charles Martin
Mike Wuerthele
3 Comments
This immediately piqued my curiosity...as I've been thinking about something like this for a while. But what I would use it for would greatly depend on the configurable aspects of the sensor.
For me, I would want certain rooms of the house to be sensor'd, so when we walk in to the room, the lights come on. However, not every time I walk into said room would I want the lights to come in (aka, after certain hours). If I could have the sensors only operate during certain periods, that might work.
For instance, as I'm carrying my infant into the bedroom to change her, I want the lights to go on, and right now I do the Apple Hail Mary and ask my Apple Watch politely to turn on the bedroom light, hoping it actually turns on before I finish up. It would be greatly preferable if the light turned on as I walked in.
However, if I walk in the room after bed time and she and my wife are out cold, and the light comes on.....not good.
I'm excited that we finally have a Hue sensor.
I'm interested in knowing how configurable it is. I'm not worried about lights being turned off while i'm still in the room because
the obvious situation would be to be able to set n+ "numeric hours" for each sensor so that it sets itself to go off after that last tracked movement [n]
Not having to rely on lights coming on/off based on the time of day is nice as well. I'd rather the bulbs respond to ambient light rather than assumptions based on
time of day.
More colorful bulbs are also welcome.
More cheap Junk from Philips. Better color LED's on the market if that is what you are into. Would not wast money on Philips products. Cheaply made and very unethical company worse than Samsung.https://www.yahoo.com/news/philips-infineon-samsung-face-eu-antitrust-fines-050110597--finance.html?ref=gshttp://www.cnet.com/news/eu-inspectors-raid-offices-of-philips-samsung/#!